2on1: Road Trip USA

After one year of planing, collecting informations of where and how to go, we've started our road trip thru the U.S. Now that were on the road for about 7 days I would like to share my report with you.

I was suprised it took only 1 hour to release the bike. Never been in the U.S. bevore, the first miles on my own bike riding on U.S. roads was very exciting. There I realized what we are really doing. Because even we arrived in LAX it still felt like a normal vacation.

We decided to leave on the same day (one earlier) in the afternoon to save one day for the trip. So we rode from Oxnard to Barstow, north of L.A. Here we had our first encounter with unpaved roads on a heavy loaded GS Adventure.


Our next destination was Las Vegas. Of course we rode thru the Mohave National Preserve instead on the Interstate. Primary we wanted to use a "backdoor" to ride into. The plan was to leave the interstate at Ludlow and take the dirt road to the Kelso Dunes. But we failed because of deep sand and gravel. So we took the old 66 instead because we don't wanted to enter the interstate again. There again we failed because of road works.

However, we reached the Mohave Desert and was amazed about the great landscape! The rocks in the background looked fantastic and a little bit unreal, like a picture from another place which was placed here. At the Kelso Train Depot we saw another beemer with stickers from Afrika on it and I was interested to meet the rider for a short talk. I was pretty surprised that the rider was a retired woman which is also a member of MOA. And yes, we had a great and interesting talk.

Lady if you read this, please leave me a note. Hope you had a save ride home. It would be a pleasure to meet you again on our way back to the west coast.

Sometimes I have the feeling to do something .. let me say, others won't do. The result looks like that:


We reached Las Vegas at sundown and spent there 2 nights as typical tourists. Including the flight over the Grand Canyon it was the most expensive part of our trip. Except all the great hotels, shows and live on the strip there was something else very interesting: I met there a Vietnam veteran from Chicago and had a great talk about life.

On the bike again we headed to Bryce Canyon. First we rode thru Lake Mead NP, where we met Victor from L.A. who was on his way to St.George for the Ironman. We talked at the gas station about his idea about riding to Panama. A very nice guy. Hope he make it there next year! Good luck again if you read this!


If you're interested: http://www.facebook.com/2on1RoadTripUsa
Sorry my battery is low. tbc
CU on the road!

cool man

i wish you a amazing trip.

Having a good ride according to your Facebook page. I will check back here when you get a chance to post more.

Subscribed!

I hope you have a safe trip. I'll be riding along in spirit. :)

I hope you enjoy my country as much as I do yours.
Jim

Victor joined us and we rode thru "The Valley of Fire" together. In St.George we had our first real meal and the best ribs ever in my life!!


Zion NP was more beautyful as I imagined and it was an outstanding ride. I love those orange colored rocks and tiny curves! We reached Bryce Canyon in the early evening. Because it was getting dark and cold (at 7700 ft) we decided to visit the canyon in the next morning. Which was a good one because the light was much better.


It was a very special day for me because I wanted to ride the Burr Trail from Boulder to Halls Crossing. The only things I knew was: maybe water crossing, 3-4 miles on sand, only the first part is paved. It was the kind of adventure I was looking for and it was absolute FANTASTIC!!


Camping was part of the plan but as we arrived in Halls Crossing (there was nothing else than a marina and a gas station on a campgroud) we couldn't resist to sleep in a trailer. Never seen something like this! Three bedrooms, a big kitchen and a living room .. wow!



On the next day we rode thru the Monument Valley and had lunch at the Trading Post. Of course we made a picture of the long road, maybe the most known in the world. What a great scenery!! But here I wont show you it to you because I'm sure you've seen it several times. Hope you like this one:


After some advices we didn't rode the classic tourist route to Flagstaff. Instead we rode to Farmington, which was really boring (80 miles and just one gas station) and from there to Taos (a very nice town) and Santa Fe. The first part to Taos was a little bit windy, but from Taos to Santy Fe we had some curves .. fine to ride.



Here in Santa Fe we met up a german guy who lives there for about 14 years ago and has now own a motorcycle workshop.



After our arrival in Alamogordo we spent the rest of the daylight in White Sands NP. It's a small area of white sand (dunes and couple of plants) and the first rockets was tested there for spaceflights (if my memories don't lie). Next to White Sands there's the Holloman Air Force Base where a german soldier was there for a week or so. Normally he's stationed for 3 years in Washington D.C. We met him at the Motel, talked for about 2 hours and he invited us to stay in his house in Washington. He also told us about the "Rolling Thunder", I didn't know until then, and were now trying to get there.



The next two days we rode thru Texas with a short stop in Roswell, where we visited the UFO museum (and bought a sticker of course :) ). Quite a funny place but not really that interesting as I thought it would be. Ah .. yes, I just forgot that I met a retired police officer from Florida there. He's a member of the IPA, as me. So we had a talk.. of course.



However, we took the hwy (70?) directly to Roswell thru the "hills". Holy .. this was the coldest ride we had in the US by now. The temperature was at 7 degrees (c) and we put all on we had (incl. rain gear.). Didn't know that it could be that cold - and yes, I didn't mentioned the details because I didn't wanted to plan too much. It's more fun that way.

Somewhere on the road after Roswell I saw a guy next to his bike on the hwy. So I stopped and asked if he needs help but he just wanted to make a picture of this huge open land. Glad that I'm not the only one who's amazed about that "boring" wide land. I met him several times again and in the evening we was neighbours in the same motel. He's from New Orleans and gave us some great tipps about what to do there. Sadly that we didn't changed our contacts.



The ride from Brownsville to Fort Worth wasn't really exciting, just a lot of farms, straight roads and open land. Only the arrival in Fort Worth was great. Before we me up with James, we rode to the BMW dealer in hurst. The bike was ready for the 7000 mi service and in fact that we would stay for two nights I wanted to know if they could put me in for the next day. There I met Justin, a guy from the service team and the most craziest man I've ever met. Ithink it was something they called "bike night" going on in the evening. So we stayed a little bit longer than we expected. We had a lot of fun and talks about the trip.



James was great!! This was the first time we saw an american house from inside and it was like to meet an old friend. He gave us a room to sleep, a lot of information what we could do (while he's at work) and took us to the Stockyards for dinner. If I would write songs, one would be about him. In fact that his parents live right next on our route to Florida, we'll stop there to bring them a letter from their son.



After a lot of advices to ride thru the Ozarks, I put them on the list. But before we leave Texas I tried to get a real Texas cowboy hat. Ok, thats not so difficult, but to find one which I could transport on the bike it was. We stopped in Justin, as James said, to visit the stores there. But.. none who would survive our trip, and they don't ship to Europe. So we left after breakfast and rode into rain, the half day long and until we quitted in Mena.



In the next morning, I was online to tell the people at home whats going on, a guy from BMWMOA invited us for a stay in his guest house right next to the Ozarks. So we changed our plans and rode the Pig Trail on hwy 23. Ken was amazing! Because he and his wife was invited for dinner, but didn't wanted us to wait, he left his and the guest house UNLOCKED for us. Ok, the people in austria outside of the cities are not really scarred and of course they know and trust eachother in the neighbourhood, but I'm quite sure they won't leave their houses unlocked for foreigner they never met. I felt very, very honered about that and I'll never forget this. Ken, this was AWESOME!!

We talked a lot, in the evening and at breakfast. On our way to Memphis, Ken and his father (90 years old!!!) Joined us the half way to West Plains, where we split up after lunch. It was a beautyfull ride and we had a great time with Ken, his wife and his father. Thank you very much again!



Just for dinner and a short view about whats going on in Memphis.



On the map the roads look not that straight as they are in real. Down the Mississippi we rode thru small towns and saw a lot of farming. But the river, we saw him just once. Only the Natchez Parkway was good to ride but way too short.



Today was a short day. The plan was to ride on smaller roads and see some plantages. But the bridge I'd planned was gone - thats about the details. *grrr So we just saw some old houses, which was great, but had to use the Interstate to ride around in the same time. As you can imagine, staying in the French Quarter isn't cheap and because of that we wanted to arrive as soon as possible to have time for walking around - what we already did.


Tomorrow we'll continue our trip on the coastline to Florida, where we'll visit another guy from advrider.cm in Tampa. On the way to Daytona Beach, maybe we'll stay there for a day to relax on the beach, we'll - hopefully - visit another most wanted point of interest.

The French Quarter in New Orleans was a very interesting and fascinating place. When daylight you'll see all the old and beautyful buildings and so much flowers. But after sundown, specially the Bourbon Street, transforms into a partyzone. And the "handgrenade" .. wahoo


After we left New Orleans I saw a lot of swamp, thats what I thought it will look like around New Orleans. There I saw the first time houses which are build a few meters above ground - I hope you know what I mean - in case the area gets flooded. Some of those looked really nice, other .. different.


The ride along the coastline was just beautyful! White sand quite everywhere. This was the first time we saw a beach since we left the westcoast. Great and hot!


Pensacola is great and of course we rode thru and visited the beach. Some houses looked .. quite expensive! Ah .. and riding over the bridges was funny. They can get pretty high sometimes.



Panamy City looks like fun and a good place to stay for vacation


On the way to east coast we met very lovely people and stopped for a good and long talk. In the same afternoon we reached one of my most wanted personal highlights.This was the one of the best days of the trip!!


After more than 5000 miles on the bike, we reached the east coast and arrived in Daytona Beach yesterday. And what could be the best way to celebrate the arrival than doing that:


Tomorrow we'll continue our trip and head to Smoky Mountains.

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Today were heading to Telico Plains & Smoky Mountains.

many thanks for reports and pic's

you are a speedjunkie, on the beach speed limit is 10 mph

I looked at your proposed route on your Facebook page and I'm not sure if you had it planned or if it's just a happy accident, but you plan to cross the Blue Ridge on Route 211 on your way to Washington. The short stretch over Thornton's Gap is a magnet for all of the bikers in the area - really nice linked sweepers up and down the "mountain".

Oh thats really a happy accident and good to know, thanks I'll note that!
Sittin right now in Robbinville right infront of "Trailhead" from advriders ... how funny is that? :)

It's the section between Luray & Sperryville. Also - there's a good small restaurant called "Rae's" in Sperryville - turn off 211 into "downtown" Sperryville, and they're about 100 meters in on your right.

Grant from Spruce Creek told us to ride on A1A right up to St. Augustine, the oldest City in the US. As the direction was the same it was easy to change that on the route. The A1A was a great scenic ride and we was happy to left the hotels and t-shirt shops behind us.


In St. Augustine we stopped for a break and some cold drinks. We rode thru the streets looking at the old building. For walking it was to hot.


The Museum was closed in Warner Robins so we had to continu to Macon where we finished the day.


From Macon, in Georgia, the roads began to get more curvy. After 3 weeks of straight roads you can imagine how fun it was to ride on curvy roads.


In Tellico Plains it startet to rain the first time. After this little shower the clouds and the rain followed us all the way to Robbinsville, where we spent the evening with a couple of motorcyclists who all wanted to ride the dragon on the next day. Right in front of me sit a guy from the Adventure Rider forum and we both read the forum .. crazy but funny accident.


The morning started wet but without rain. I was impressed how good the Heidenau K60 works under pressure. The dragon was great fun and the amount of curves in that short distance is indeed very special. With other tires and a dry road .. hmmm



I'll continue as soon as possible. Breakfast is calling and my wife is hungry. And when she's hungry, she can get green. Believe me, nobody wants that she gets green.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH JOHN FOR LET US STAYING IN YOUR HOUSE!

You are more than welcome, it was a pleasure to meet both of you. Have a safe and enjoyable ride!

You look to be having a great time in the good Ole USA. If you want a real Texas Cowboy Hat, I can send you one once you are home. Just let me know your size and I will let you know how much it is. Straw hats areas usually around 30-50 dollars. Being in Texas they are not hard to find. I will find you one made in Texas, as they should be made here not in China. But some cheap ones are. I will not wear one from there.

It is too bad you did not try TX BBQ as it is the standard for BBQ in our opinion. Have a great trip....

BIn the Smoky Mountains NP we had a "follow me car" thru a road work section. We've never seen before!


The Smoky's were great except the cars, harleys and the double yellow. :)


From there we rode on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was the best ride (because it was long and in the mountains) in the US in the last 4 weeks.


We stopped in Virginia to get some gas but the gas station was different to others. So I asked a cardriver how it works and instead of telling me, he filled my bike up (somehow he looks happy to fill a european bike up).


We had planned to stay outside of Flint at "Ambrosia Farm". There we got this room and local food: WOW!


After we left Tellico Plains the weather conditions changed often. On the Blue Ridge mostly every hour (rain, fog, wet but no rain, wet but fog and sometimes it was good). I could spend a week on the Blue Ridge, just riding from one end to another and back again.


We reached the Shanondoah NP in rain and we were afraid we won't have the chance to watch wildlife. Which was the only reason to ride thru. But in the middle of the NP we saw a bear family right next to the road. We were excited after we saw another one couple of miles later and just a few feet away from the road. In austria you have to visit a zoo if you want to see one, now we were right next to one... you can imagine how excited we were, it was AWESOME!!


We stayed in Front Royal and from there it was just a hour to Washington D.C., where we wanted to spent the weekend there. But before we went to Washington D.C. we visit the german soldier (we met in Alamogordo) and his family. Together with him, his family and his friend (who came over for a motorcycle trip to Las Vegas) we had a great time. Btw., the owner of the bike was another friend who came over for a talk.


The next two days we stayed right next to the Pentagon and to the metro. So it was easy to reach the Mall and all the famous places. In fact that we had only two days we saw just the most famous places, including the White House of course. Everything around the Mall was very clean and it was a really great day for walking around. Once we were stopped by the Homeland Security, but only for a talk about the GoPro helmetcamera.


"Rolling Thunder" .. I'm sure you know all or more about it than me. In the last days we saw them riding to and in Washington D.C., they were almost everywhere and always. I think there joined more bikes the demonstration than we have in Austria. So it was very impressive for us to watch it. In the evening we met a group in the hotel lobby, talked a lot and drunk a beer together and got some advices for parts of the route.


In fact that we was in hurry to reach Washington D.C. to Memorial Day Weekend we was good in time and so we wanted to ride to New York City too. It was still a great wish but we didn't know if we had the time to do this. At the beginning we planned to ride around NYC. So we took the interstate to get in as fast as possible. On the way there we met some guys of the Buffalo's from Boston. I thought the traffic will be horrible - as some told me - and so we were really surprised we arrived at lunch. The weather was still hot and it was everything else than easy to find a place to park the bike for a drink or something small to eat. But we met another austrian couple there, had a lot fun with the guys from the Empire State Building and of course to ride on the Broadway with the own bike ... I dont know what to say .. for me a wish came true and it was one of the best days in my life!


From NYC we rode up to Newburgh to visit Orange County Choppers and see the bikes they've build. I just saw them couple of times in TV and I was fascinated in their bikes because we've very difficult technical regulations and you'll never see one of those bikes on austrian roads. There we got a bottle of water from another couple - it was still hot and we melted. :)

Awesome, thanks for updating!

I continue asap. Meanwhile I've this for you:
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Right now we're in Lander, WY.
Tomorrow we'll visit Cody (some guys told me it should be a nice town) and finish in Red Lodge.
In fact that Yellowstone is sold out we'll "just" ride thru on monday and continue to Boise on the next day.

Interesting vid. I guess that's something else you don't see on Austrian roads.